Gute,
Times do indeed change, and yet, in so many ways how we frame and approach problems is still stuck in the Cold War. How we approached problems during the 165 years prior to WWII is far more relevant to the world of today than how we approached them from '45-90.
Containment demanded control and land force deterrence. The current world demands neither. Today we need influence and are back to our historic maritime nation primary mission-set and can once again relax somewhat in our own geostrategic security now that we are no longer carrying the adopted geostrategic vulnerability of Western Europe in the face of a real land threat to the same.
This means we need a Navy designed to conduct strategic deterrence missions and to ensure freedom of the high seas for our merchant fleet and those of others that service our economic requirements. This means we need a small, but potent, expeditionary capability such as provided by the USMC and a handful of Army units. This means we need a SOF force fully capable of rapid DA anywhere in the world if necessary, but primarily out and about in the areas where our strategic interests are most reliant, ensuring we have the degree of understanding and the solidity of personal relationships necessary to prevent what is preventable, and to deal effectively (and appropriately) with what is not. We also need to refocus our air power on strategic/deterrence missions. We can probably skip a generation on tactical fighters. The Army needs to migrate warfighting missions to the Guard, and the Active force needs to get very lean and stay home more to do the training and maintenance that they have been deferring the past 15 years.
Mostly though, we need to take the "We can go to war now" COA off the table for the President. This will force us to lead with diplomacy or punitive expeditions; but will allow time for a public debate prior to committing the nation to long, costly violence to force our will upon some government, people or place.
I realize senior leadership in DC is full of "good Cold Warriors," so the forces of inertia are strong. Those old dogs show little inclination to learn new tricks. We also are battling the military industrial complex and powerful lobbies from places like Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel who warp our policies in their favor. It is a riptide that may drown us.
Bookmarks